This is the first Latin edition of an important work. Mattioli was the
son of a Sienese doctor who moved to Venice to practice. Mattioli
was originally intended for a career in law, but chose to follow his father
into medicine instead. Mattioli's commentary greatly increased the
size of Dioscorides original work. In fact, his commentary on Dioscorides'
brief forward runs to some fourteen thousand words in a single paragraph.
See PAT-136 for further notes.